Reasons Why Crabgrass Control Does Not Last as Long as Desired

As we get into the middle of summer, we are hoping that our lawns still look perfect. And with a few tasks, that is easily achievable. However, if you start to run short on watering your lawn, and it starts to dry out, evenly slightly, then there may be another problem starting to brew, crabgrass.

If your next thought is ‘I put down pre-emergent crabgrass control, why am I seeing crabgrass?’ It comes back to your lawn not getting enough water. It may sound weird, but we will go over how the two are related.

The pre-emergent crabgrass control works by creating a barrier on top of the soil. When the crabgrass seed tries to grow, it reaches the barrier and is killed. Thus no crabgrass is your lawn.

Now when a lawn has a chance to dry out, the soil dries out, and the pre-emergent crabgrass barrier breaks down. The drier the soil and lawn, the faster the barrier breaks down. So you may be thinking, ‘I will just water my lawn to no end’, that is bad as well, don’t do that. Maybe not so directly for the pre-emergent crabgrass barrier, more for the lawn itself. You will drown the lawn in water and the grass will become harmed.

What you should be doing is providing the water that your lawn needs on a regular basis. If it is in the form of rain, then that is good. But if there is no rain, then sprinklers will need to take over for mother nature. Either way, your lawn drying out is not good for trying to keep crabgrass away.

Our mission at Harkes Landscape Management, LLC is to provide our residential and commercial customers with the highest quality and honest lawn, landscape and snow management services that help to improve their properties.